อ — o ang (basin)
«o ang (basin)» is a consonant of the Thai script, read as “glottal stop; vowel carrier”. Middle class. As a consonant it is the tiny catch in the throat before a vowel, the one in "uh-oh"; its main job is different — to carry a vowel when a syllable starts with one. For example, in the word “อ่าง” — basin. The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. The catch is easy to miss by ear: it is what keeps "ai" apart from "mai". Every vowel mark in this alphabet is shown sitting on อ. It appears, for example, in the word “สวัสดี ตอน บ่าย” — good afternoon.
In short
| Character | อ |
| Name | o ang (basin) |
| Sound | glottal stop; vowel carrier |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 9th of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ป and ข, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How to type อ
- On a phone: add the Thai keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type U+0E2D and press Alt+X right after it — the code turns into the character.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source, hold Option and type 0E2D.
- Unicode code point: U+0E2D. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
Middle class. As a consonant it is the tiny catch in the throat before a vowel, the one in "uh-oh"; its main job is different — to carry a vowel when a syllable starts with one
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- อ่างангbasin
The character in the “middle class — nine consonants” group
อักษรกลาง. Reading starts from these nine. A live syllable with no tone mark takes the even mid tone; a dead one takes the low tone. They are also the only class that regularly takes the three-stroke mark ๊ and the rising hook ๋.
Words with this character
- สวัสดี ตอน บ่ายсаватди тон байgood afternoon
- ขอบคุณкхопкхунthank you
- แล้ว เจอกันлаэо джёканbye
- คุณ เป็น อย่างไรкхун пен янграйhow are you? (polite)
- ไม่ค่อย สบายмайкхой сабайnot so well
- ลา ก่อนлаа конgoodbye
- สวัสดี ตอน เช้าсаватди тон чаоgood morning
- ผม ชื่อпхом чыэmy name is
- คุณ ชื่อ อะไร?кхун чыэ арай?what is your name?
- ขอ โทษкхо тхотexcuse me
- เธอтхёshe
- เรา สอง คนрао сонг кхонthe two of us
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «o ang (basin)» it is “glottal stop; vowel carrier”, as in the word “อ่าง”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 63 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Thai character อ read?
As “glottal stop; vowel carrier” — it is a consonant of the Thai script. Middle class. As a consonant it is the tiny catch in the throat before a vowel, the one in "uh-oh"; its main job is different — to carry a vowel when a syllable starts with one. For example, in the word “อ่าง” — basin.
What is the letter อ called?
O ang (basin). A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “o ang (basin)” and reads as “glottal stop; vowel carrier”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.